1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the field of astronomy and in particular to the field of locating and identifying stars, planets, and constellations by electronic means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Star gazing by non-professionals is an everyday occurrence. The nighttime sky is not only a thing of spectacular beauty, it holds the secrets to life itself. It is inconceivable that a person can look up into the nighttime sky and not shake his or her head in amazement. On a dark night, the view is without equal--it is truly galactic.
Unfortunately, most persons who view the heavens at nighttime simply do not know what they are seeing. The average person cannot locate the planets nor the constellations. Some of the more fortunate few can identify and locate some of the more common stars, or planets, or constellations, such as the North Star, Mars, and the small and big dippers. To most persons, however, the sky is an unknown, albeit a spectacular unknown.
A general approach to understanding what a person is seeing when he or she views the nighttime sky is to obtain a basic book on the stars. Then, if he or she can orient himself with relation to the sky and the illustrations in the book, he or she might be able to locate and identify particular stars, planets, and even constellations. "Might" is the key word because the average person, as hard as he or she may try, will often fail to identify and locate particular heavenly bodies. Even if successful, the average person will probably still be uncertain that he or she has actually found and is viewing the particular body sought. One of the problems being the varying location of the heavenly bodies at any particular time of day, or year. The location of some stars and constellations vary greatly over time, others not so much, and even others hardly at all. Another variable is the location of the star gazer. A view from Greenland is vastly different from the view at Panama, even on the same day and at the same time. When different seasons of the year are added to the situation, the identification and location process becomes extremely difficult. The nighttime sky is simply to vast and too variable for the average person.
To help in overcoming the problems associated with nighttime viewing of the sky, one prior art system utilized sky maps in conjunction with charts or tables having coordinates corresponding to times and date. Other coordinates were used to orient the sky map with the sky itself and where the viewer should be looking, for example, directly overhead. Of course, further coordinates are necessary to account for the viewers latitude and longitude. This art is exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,653, issued Jan. 6, 1998 by Samuel lee. While such a system is helpful, there are limitations such as the viewer's innate ability to accomplish the various tasks, as well as the need to manipulate the various charts and tables in the dark and without the aid of a work surface.
All in all, the prior art methods and apparatus whereby a star gazer can identify and locate stars or constellations are of little and questionable value to the average person.
Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide electronic apparatus and methods for use by an average person so as to enable the average person to easily and quickly identify and locate stars, planets, and constellations at any time of the day or year and regardless of his or her geographical location.
Another object of the present invention is to provide electronic apparatus and methods for use by an average person whereby the average person may easily and quickly determine the identity of a particular star, plant, or constellation.
The above-stated objects as well as other objects which, although not specifically stated, but are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention, are accomplished by the present invention and will become apparent from the hereinafter set forth Detailed Description of the Invention, Drawings, and the Claims appended herewith.